#50: Commerce and agriculture (1929)

"When we reached Thessaloniki, May 25, 1929, Mrs. Elsie White,
who was our landscape gardener, led us out into the garden to
pick roses, not a seed or any living vegetation having been
planted anywhere on those grounds when we left for America,
October 29th preceding. There are the sun and the soil for
some of Nature's best work in Macedonia provided human
efforts are supplied in a skillful and industrious way,
especially in adding water.
Government officials, as well as the College constituency,
seemed generally to be increasingly favorable toward the
College as intimacies increased. When I met the superintendent
of education for Macedonia, who was charged with the
responsibility of supervising our institution, it was heart
warming for Mr. Compton as well as myself to hear him say,
"We regularly report to Athens, Anatolia is the only foreign
school that conforms to all the government regulations. Your
attitude of respect for the laws won't hurt you". A class of
24 completed our course and received their diplomas at the
commencement season.
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One evidence of general development in the province was
the gradual construction of better roadways, as we clearly
realized when a new highway was built on a direct line
between our lower and upper campus grounds. On the next
slope above the College, also, a government "vineyard
nursery" had been established to supply grapevines to the
new settlers and others in Macedonia at cheap rates and
free from diseases. The blight, phyloxera, a few years
before, had almost destroyed the grapevines in that part
of the world. The purpose of the nursery was to furnish
roots of American stock, free from disease, grafted with
different varieties of grapes, liked and wanted in the
Near East. Near to the American College was the wayside
announcement of "American grape wines". They were
supplied in astonishing numbers and at equally remarkable
low cost, usually from a quarter million to a half million
vines for the planting season every spring, distributed
at a price of about one cent per tiny vine.
In September, the annual International Commercial Fair
was held, an institution which had now become quite an
affair. Merchants from different countries gathered,
Japan being usually the most remote, and for about a
week were meeting one another, advertising their
respective bargains, learning market needs, and planning
for a full tide of business. The "Field of Mars", which
had been used as a military parade ground, was assigned
permanently for the purposes of the Fair. When Mars
turns merchant, it is usually a very good thing for
all concerned."